Cnooc's Nexen Deal Causes U.K. No Concern

By

Alexis Flynn

Updated Dec. 11, 2012 4:15 p.m. ET

LONDON—Cnooc Ltd's $15.1 billion takeover of Canadian energy firm Nexen Inc. isn't cause for regulatory concern in Britain, where the Chinese state-run company would assume control of the U.K.'s biggest oil field, a Department of Energy and Climate Change spokesman said Tuesday.

Because the U.K. doesn't need to give formal approval of the deal, the absence of objections means it won't stand in the way of the deal and effectively...